There was a farmer who grew excellent-quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best-grown corn.
One year, a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting. The farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours.
“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they enter their corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why, sir,” said the farmer, “The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow corn inferior to mine, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow top quality corn, I must help my neighbours grow top quality corn.”
This is not a new story, and its origins are not clear. There are some
lessons I took away from it:
Long-term thinking: It’s important to take a long-term view and make decisions that will benefit the company over the long run rather than just focusing on short-term gains.
Sharing knowledge: There’s already an abundance of information out there. Sharing our expertise can help to build stronger relationships, improve performance, and drive further innovation.
Law of reciprocation: In most people, there is a desire to pay someone back for a favour you did them. Often called paying it forward.
Community building: Your business doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Building strong relationships and networks with other businesses and stakeholders can benefit everyone involved.
Contribution: It feels amazing to give without the expectation of return.
Are there other insights you take away from this fable?